DIR and the Governor's Interagency Refinery Task Force

The California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) is
working with the Governor's Interagency Refinery Task Force to advance the safety, health and environmental performance of the state's refinery sector
through prevention, emergency preparedness, and community engagement.

Please send any comments or suggestions regarding the proposed regulations to OSHSB@dir.ca.gov.

On February 18, 2015 ExxonMobil's Torrance refinery released hydrocarbon from its fluid catalytic cracker (FCC) unit into its electrostatic precipitator (ESP). The hydrocarbons ignited inside the ESP, causing the unit to explode. Eight workers were decontaminated after the incident, and four were sent to hospitals for treatment of minor injuries.

On August 6, 2012, a fire broke out at the Chevron Richmond refinery when a corroded pipe in Chevron's #4 Crude Unit began leaking. Cal/OSHA immediately launched an investigation into the fire and the leak repair procedures throughout the refinery, and found that Chevron did not follow the recommendations of its own inspectors and metallurgical scientists to replace the corroded pipe that ultimately ruptured and caused the fire. They also found that Chevron did not follow its own emergency shutdown procedures when the leak was identified, and did not protect its employees and employees of Brand Scaffolding who were working at the leak site. There were also violations in Chevron's overall implementation of its own "process safety management" (PSM) procedures, required by Cal/OSHA of all refineries.